The invention relates to a boot for a gliding sport, for example for snowboarding, consisting of an inner boot with a soft upper and of an intermediate rigid sole itself at least partially covered by a flexible walking sole, in which the intermediate rigid sole, on the one hand, is provided with means for connection to a binding and, on the other hand, has bearing surfaces on either side of the binding component.
Such a boot is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,886 the content of which is incorporated by reference. In this boot, the binding component consists of a bar which is arranged at the center of the sole, under the region of the arch of the foot, and directed longitudinally. On each side of this bar, the rigid sole has concave bearing faces intended to bear on convex faces, of conjugate shape, of the binding. The boot is therefore held on the binding only in the central region of the sole, over a relatively short length. In order to ensure good stability of the boot, the respectively concave and convex surfaces need to be matched perfectly. The drawback with this device is the difficulty of engaging the boot in the binding. Indeed, if the sole of the boot and/or the binding have snow stuck to them, it is impossible to engage the boot. The flexible walking sole is divided into two parts, extending respectively under the heel and under the sole of the foot. This choice makes it easier to walk but at the cost of the loss in technical performance of the boot. This is because it is difficult to set the snowboard on its edge and therefore engage turns, in particular front turns, due to the forces being exerted on the binding, caused by the fact that the front of the boot can flex.
Patent FR 2 743 700, the content of which is incorporated by reference, discloses a boot for a gliding board provided with rigid bearing surfaces located respectively in the heel region and in the sole region of the foot. These rigid bearing surfaces, of which there are four, are obtained by recesses in the sole, into which recesses projections of the binding penetrate. This design has the object of separating the contact of the boot on the binding from the contact of the boot on the ground, that is to say making the contact on the binding independent of the wear on the walking sole. The intended object is therefore different from the object intended to be achieved by the boot according to the invention.
The applicant markets a snowboarding boot provided with two lateral pins in its central region for fixing it in a snowboard binding of the "EMERY"-type (registered trademark). Such a binding method makes it possible to obtain good lateral holding without a lateral bearing surface of the boot according to the cited prior art. This boot available on the market is provided with a relatively thick elastic walking sole. When the boot is fixed on the snowboard, it is to some extent fixed, in its central zone, around a transverse axis and bears on the gliding board via the heel and the sole of the foot. In view of the elasticity of the walking sole, the boot has a tendency to swivel about its binding axis when changing weight, in particular on the front of the foot during front turns. Although small, this elastic play reduces the accuracy with which the snowboard is controlled and lengthens the response time of the board. Therefore, what is needed is a snowboard boot which overcomes this drawback.